Socle (mathematics)

In mathematics, the term socle has several related meanings. In the context of group theory, the socle of a group G, denoted soc(G), is the subgroup generated by the minimal normal subgroups of G. It can happen that a group has no minimal non-trivial normal subgroup (that is, every non-trivial normal subgroup properly contains another such subgroup) and in that case the socle is defined to be the subgroup generated by the identity. The socle is a direct product of minimal normal subgroups. As an example, consider the cyclic group Z12 with generator u, which has two minimal normal subgroups, one generated by u4 (which gives a normal subgroup with 3 elements) and the other by u6 (which gives a normal subgroup with 2 elements). Thus the socle of Z12 is the group generated by u4 and u6, which is just the group generated by u2. The socle is a characteristic subgroup, and hence a normal subgroup. It is not necessarily transitively normal, however. If a group G is a finite solvable group, then the socle can be expressed as a product of elementary abelian p-groups. Thus, in this case, it is just a product of copies of Z/pZ for various p, where the same p may occur multiple times in the product. In the context of module theory and ring theory the socle of a module M over a ring R is defined to be the sum of the minimal nonzero submodules of M. It can be considered as a dual notion to that of the radical of a module. In set notation, Equivalently, The socle of a ring R can refer to one of two sets in the ring. Considering R as a right R-module, soc(RR) is defined, and considering R as a left R-module, soc(RR) is defined. Both of these socles are ring ideals, and it is known they are not necessarily equal. If M is an Artinian module, soc(M) is itself an essential submodule of M. A module is semisimple if and only if soc(M) = M. Rings for which soc(M) = M for all M are precisely semisimple rings. soc(soc(M)) = soc(M). M is a finitely cogenerated module if and only if soc(M) is finitely generated and soc(M) is an essential submodule of M.